A Night at the Oscars rescheduled for this weekend

The Blue Jean Country Queen Festival/Meath Macra na Feirme A Night at the Oscars, which was due to take place on Saturday 3 March in the Darnley Lodge Hotel, Athboy, has been rescheduled for Friday 9 March at 8pm.

A Night at the Oscars is a Macra event like no other, as community groups and Macra clubs write, produce and record their own short films (this year’s entries will include both parodies of popular films and a couple of original short films) all with the aim of winning €250 and the coveted best picture award. It also offers the chance to sit back and enjoy an evening of one-of-a-kind DIY filmmaking.

Popcorn and sweets will be available on the night so the audience can sit back and laugh along with the films before they vote for the one they want to be awarded best picture.

Alongside the audience votes, the films will be judged by Shay Casserley, a videographer and award-winning filmmaker with over 20 years’ experience. Shay is no stranger to Macra events or low-budget filmmaking, having been involved in making the Irish martial arts film Fatal Deviation with Boyzone’s Mikey Graham in the mid-90s. Alongside him will Gemma Markey, the face of Meath Daily TV, Meath’s online news channel.

Shay and Gemma will be joined by Alison Sinnott, the current Blue Jean Country Queen. Alison, a final-year UCD ag science student from Wexford, claimed the title of Blue Jean Country Queen at the 30th anniversary of the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival last June.

Tickets for A Night at the Oscars are €15 for adults (€10 for children and Macra members).

Young farmer trip to the Isle of Man

Macra na Feirme is organising a young farmer and farming industry trip to the Isle of Man at the end of April.

The proposed trip itinerary is as follows:

Tuesday 24 April

  • Flight from Dublin,
  • Isle of Man farm tours.
  • Accommodation and evening meal.
  • Wednesday 25 April

  • Isle of Man industrial tours.
  • Arrive back in Dublin.
  • Discussion with Michael Hoey, Country Crest.
  • Overnight stay in Dublin.
  • Thursday 26 April

  • Future Pigs tour, Kildare.
  • Johnstown Castle, Wexford.
  • The estimated cost is €350. Spaces are limited. To book your space, please contact Jennifer by email jkeegan@macra.ie or phone 01-426 8906.